I am a new member of the online aviation community, and would like to ask a question in regards to airline management and planning. I have always been very passionate about commercial aviation, following current trends and charting the courses that different carriers and manufacturers took as they changed the face of commercial aviation. I find myself in a unique situation, where, after several years as a science and mathematics educator, I am now in a position to pursue a career in the aviation industry. Specifically, I feel I would be an excellent addition as an analyst to an airline's planning, marketing, and profitability departments, or as a corporate trainer to an airline.

My question to the Airliners.net community, then, would be, how might I "get my foot in the door" at an airline?
My work in education has allowed me to focus on curriculum development, streamlining and adjusting science curriculum in order to maximize student retention of the material. I have recently completed a major work through of a laboratory based, sixth-grade science curriculum at my current job. This entailed not only going through a year long series of science experiments, but also rewriting, editing, and updating the series of manuals that serve in lieu of a text for this course. Moreover, my extremely sharp communication and interpersonal/classroom management skills would further make me an ideal candidate for such a position.

Is it possible to break into this field without possession of a business management degree? What should my first steps be? Is there any "inside information" that might make me a more successful or attractive candidate to an airline?

Ive round that most airline planning jobs (strategic and route planning etc) came from the internal revenue management and pricing entry-level pool of candidates.

My background is airport facilities, infrastructure and air service planning, and i was the runner-up for a position where they gave i to an internal candidate and from what ive found, that is often the case for positions like that.

Experience is what you get when what you thought would work out didn't!

I dont know which moderator moved this, but this is not "poll" or a "preference", it is very consistent with other topics found in the civil aviation forum. Perhaps we need an 'aviation career" sub forum?

Experience is what you get when what you thought would work out didn't!

I have spoken with a couple of people who work for various carriers...and would be happy to her from/discuss my career goals with others on this board. I have a couple of more questions based on what I heard....

1) is it true that sometimes it's better to start off as a flight attendant or CSA for a year or two and then use that as leverage for a "lateral move" within a company? I have heard that managerial/corporate jobs at some airlines are very difficult to come by if you are not already working for the company in some form, and that many airlines prefer to "hire from within".

2) Are there any recruiting agencies/headhunters that work specifically with the airlines for their hiring, or that airlines frequently work with that I should contact/send my resume to?